nexxus rocks!

so my Nexxus products finally arrived!!! My hair is in cornrows at the moment so I decided to wash my hair without undoing the cornrows. So here's what I did. I didn't have time for the pre-poo, so I just clarified carefully (to avoid disrupting my cornrows) with the Aloe Rid Shampoo, then applied the Aloe Rid Treatment. After that I conditioned with the Emergencee. Even though I didn't have time to sit under the dryer I thought that the emergencee treatment worked quite well. The last few washes I have been plagued with alot of breakage and I was blaming it on my new growth, but today I didn't experience any of that! Amazing!! After the Emergencee treatment I had to shampoo with Therappe. This is 'the' best moisturizing shampoo I have EVER tried. It smells delish and it didn't tangle my hair at all, I was really impressed. At 11 weeks post relaxer I have never before been able to wash my hair and without it tangling - NEVER! Today it was a breeze. I must admit that as you wash out the Therappe, your hair doesn't feel as moisturized however once you follow it up with the Humectress Conditioner your hair feel completely moisturized and nice and smooth to the touch - not wiry as has been my experience with some other products. I now understand why there is a Nexxus following, and I'm pretty confident I'll be jumping on the bandwagon after this experience. Finally I used the Nexxus Leave-In Conditioner, and roller-set the back of my hair. Still waiting for the rollers to dry completely, but hopefully my set will come out good.

Pre-Poo: No
Hot Oil Treatment: None
Co-Wash: No
Shampoo: Aloe Rid Clarifying & Nexxus Therappe
Treatment: Aloe Rid Clarifying Treatment
Conditioner: Nexxus Humectress
Deep Conditioner: Emergencee w/o heat
Leave-In Treatment: Nexxus Leave-In & Infusium 23
Styling Products: Water, Better Braids
Styling Routine: Roller set hair that is not in cornrows
Overall Results: Very, very good

cornrows

I'm no newbie to "stretching" but back in the day there was no term for it...it was just a case of "Not-being-able-to-afford-to-spend-money-on-a-relaxer-this-month". It was not something to be admired back then, in fact you felt somewhat embarrassed walking around with close to 2 inches of new growth. My how the times have changed when we can embrace our natural kink at least for a few weeks longer.

I say all that to say that we found creative ways to handle the new growth back then (good grief I'm making myself sound so old lol) One such practice was cornrows. They were great because they were a "protective style" and lasted a week or more without the need to aggitate said new growth with a comb. I had almost forgotten about cornrows until this weekend. My hair is 10-weeks post relaxer and let me tell you it is akin to "The Fury of A Woman's Scorn"! Nothing makes it more manageable! Nothing that is except cornrowing. So I spent most of my Saturday afternoon after I washed and deep conditioned, cornrowing my hair. The results were quite good if I do say so myself (except for the parting lol), and it helped me rediscover a braid spray that is awesome! I think I will start using it as a regular daily moisturizer as it incredibly makes my new growth soft! It's called Better Braids Spray, and it does have in mineral oil so some people won't like it, but I think it's a keeper for me.

So to those of you struggling with the new growth, I recommend trying some cornrows and maybe that can put you out of your misery...at least for a few days.

product wish list

This is just a list of products I've heard raving reviews about and might be worth a try in my quest for the "staple" regimen. I'll keep adding to the list as I go along, and when I finally try one I'll review it.
1. Cantu Break Cure Strengthening Treatment @ www.cantusheasoft.com
2. Lacio Lacio Leave In Hair Lotion @ www.honeyfig.com
3. Joico Split End Mender
4. UBH Cream Moisturizer @ www.honeyfig.com
5. UBH Dew Spray Moisturizer @ www.honeyfig.com
6. Lacio Lacio Intensive Conditioner @ www.honeyfig.com

06/22/2008
7. Joico K-Pak Sun Therapy Nourishing Shampoo
8. Joico K-Pak Sun Therapy Treatment Masque
9. Joico K-Pak Sun Therapy Protective Sun Milk
10. Joico K-Pak Deep Penetrating Reconstructor
11. Joico K-Pak Intense Hydrator
12. CHI Silk Infusion

07/28/2008
13. Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner

08/07/2008
14. Silken Child Silk Moisturizing Creme by Silk Elements

ors moisturizer

so I was on the hunt for a moisturizer, and my attempts at making one have been unsuccessful thus far (I think I'll stick to lotions, creams and butters lol). In my desperate attempt to find something, anything to moisturize my thirsty hair, I started rummaging through the cupboard and butt up on some ORS Olive Oil. I must have had it for years, but when I opened it, it still looked good...i did the sniff test and it didn't smell rancid so I decided to start using it. To be honest I now remember why i never used it - I don't fancy the scent. Having said all that however, I will try it for at least a week and see how my hair responds. If my hair responds well I'll use it out (despite my issues with the scent) before buying a new moisturizer.Can you tell I'm trying hard not to be a PJ!???

still experimenting

switched it up a bit again this week. I shampooed with the Therappe, then coated my hair with the Humectress and hot oil before doing the DIY steam treatment. Let me just say my hair was sooo soft after the steaming...i will definitely be adding that to my regular routine. After washing out the deep conditioner I spritzed on the Infusium and let my hair air dry. That was a huge mistake!! My hair got wiry and felt really brittle. I'm not sure if it was because I was 8 weeks post relaxer or what, but I definitely won't be trying that one again. I honestly believed if I had rollerset, my hair would have turned out beautifully but such is the journey we undertake....sometimes it's just hit or miss. Next time I'll be sure to omit the air-drying part - that definitely does not work for me.

Pre-Poo: No
Hot Oil Treatment: None
Co-Wash: No
Shampoo: Nexxus Therappe
Conditioner: Nexxus Humectress
Deep Conditioner: Nexxus Humectress & Queen Helen Hot Oil /w DIY steam treatment
Leave-In Treatment: Infusium 23
Styling Products: IC Hair Polish Heat Protectant Straightening Serum
Styling Routine: Air Dry, Blow out, Flat Iron, Saran Wrap
Overall Results: Poor. Very unhappy with the results :(

what's with nexxus??

i've been trying to find an efficient way of tracking my progress, so I've decided that this blog is going to act as my hair journal - each week (hopefully) I'll write about my hair experience for that week and at the end just list a summary of the products I used and an overall rating so that I can easily refer back to them.This week I changed up my routine a bit. I'm still consider myself to be in search of a solid hair routine, so it involves experimenting with different products to find the right match. After last weeks terrible DC I went out and purchased the Nexxus Therappe Shampoo and Humectress Conditioner.I really liked the results. The shampoo is sooo different to any I've ever tried. My hair actually felt soft as I was shampooing and there was little tangling!! The Humectress conditioner detangled well and left my hair soft as well. I deep conditioned with a combination of the Humectress and Aphogee's Intensive Keratin Reconstructor. The results were pretty good.After the DC I blow-dried, flat ironed my hair and then did the saran wrap. My hair turned out gor-ge-ous! The next day at work I received numerous compliments. I'll definitely be trying out more of these Nexxus products in the near future.

Pre-Poo: No
Hot Oil Treatment: VO5
Co-Wash: No
Shampoo: Nexxus Therappe
Conditioner: Nexxus Humectress
Deep Conditioner: Nexxus Humectress & Aphogee Intensive Keratin ReconstructorLeave-In Treatment: Infusium 23
Styling Products: IC Hair Polish, Heat Protectant Straightening Serum
Styling Routine: Blow Dry, Flat Iron, Saran Wrap
Overall Results: Good - Nice shine, soft, nice bounce